Remember When?
by Wildstar93
Summary: Ten years after the Hundred Year War ended, Avatar Aang and a heavily-pregnant Katara remember all the adventures they went on ever since Aang was released from the iceberg. This FanFic celebrates the 10th anniversary of Avatar: The Last Airbender.


**Warrior Cat Cody: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to my newest FanFic: Remember When! I did this just in time for the 10th anniversary for Avatar: The Last Airbender. Speaking of which...**

**Today has been ten years. Ten long years. A decade since this show had come out. I'll admit that I didn't get interested in it until late 2005, but it's still my favorite show on Nickelodeon ever. In fact, this is the best, has always been the best, and the best there will ever be on Nickelodeon. ****Sorry, getting ahead of myself here. Anyways, here's the disclaimer and the rest of the story. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You already know, guys. I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, for this awesome series belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. And the FanFic title is a reference to Alan Jackson's song Remember When (yes, I've listened to some Alan Jackson).**

**Yes, there'll mainly be talking in this story. But PLEASE bear with me on this! Those who can't, you don't have to read it if you don't want to.**

**Publishing Date: February 21, 2015**

**Enjoy! For real this time!**

**...**

_**Remember When**_

It was freezing down in the Southern Water Tribe despite it being spring everywhere else in the world. Avatar Aang and the members of Team Avatar had taken a vacation from building Republic City to head over to his wife's old home. It was nearly ten years since Katara and Sokka had found him in the iceberg when they were teens in the Hundred Year War.

Aang had decided to take a walk around the edges of the slowly-building Water Tribe city. Ever since Master Pakku and his Northern Waterbenders headed south, things were doing well for the Southerners, and those having problems during the War were now getting the help they needed. Other than all that, he felt as if he needed a walk to take stuff off his mind.

Now he was standing on a ledge looking out towards the icy sea, memories flooding into his mind faster than a water whip. He could still remember freezing himself and his sky bison Appa into an iceberg, Raava still in contact with him for a hundred years. And here he was, a hundred and ten years later, starting a family of his own and helping build a place where people of all four nations could live in peace and harmony.

_Monk Gyatso, I hope you can see us all now, _Aang prayed silently, his heart twinging when he thought of his teacher. _I may be the last Airbender now, but I hope I've done you and the Air Nomads proud._

"Hey Aang. What're you out here for?"

The Avatar spun around on the spot. Katara was slowly making her way over to him, taking a few deep breaths as she did so. Aang was hoping she was wearing very warm clothing to keep herself and their unborn baby safe and cozy. The blue park she was wearing was enough to keep her swollen belly warm, but he was also worried about her catching a cold out here. It was their first time as soon-to-be parents, and Aang didn't want the rest of her pregnancy to end badly.

"I should be asking _you _the same. Shouldn't you be at the city warming up?" he chided her lightly, running over towards his wife.

Katara gently rested a hand on his shoulders and said, "Don't worry. I was only trying to get my big fat body moving." Before Aang could reassure her that she wasn't fat, she continued, "I was also wondering what you were doing, hanging around the edge of the city. Just being curious."

Aang looked out towards the ocean. "I was just, you know...remembering memories."

"Oh..." She looked out the same way as he. "You're remembering that day, aren't you? The day Sokka and I got you out of the iceberg."

"Yeah. Ten years ago," Aang remarked. He wrapped his arm around Katara's shoulders and asked, "Remember the first thing I said when you freed me?"

Katara laughed. "Yep. You asked me right away to go penguin-sliding with you. And you sneezed and flew high in the air...that was when we found out that you were an Airbender."

Aang grinned. "But not the Avatar _yet_. That, and I saw the first being I came across when I got out. The most beautiful girl on the face of the planet."

"Oh?" Katara faced him, raising an eyebrow. "And who would that be?"

"You," Aang answered, kissing her on one of her cheeks.

The two sat together in the snow, Katara huddling close to Aang to get cozy. Aang himself remembered something like this happening a long time ago after he discovered a certain tragedy.

"Plus, you remember the day I found out what happened to the Air Nomads?" Aang asked, a sad frown taking his smile's place. "I still can't believe the Fire Nation had done something like that. Sozin did want to spread the Fire Nation's prosperity all over the world...but did he have to destroy my people?" His voice even sounded like he was holding back a sob.

"He thought the Avatar would stop him, but he wasn't entirely bad," Katara assured him. "Karma may have spared him...but his conscious didn't let him off that easily."

After this, they talked about more stuff, feeling slightly better. They talked about how they discovered the Kyoshi warriors and their leader Suki (Sokka's future girlfriend), how they met old King Bumi (who had sadly died a few months ago), and how they knew Aang would have to learn the elements before that summer. More memories included meeting Jet and the Freedom Fighters and a new necklace for Katara to replace the one she had lost. Both Aang and Katara blushed when he recalled seeing her beauty in the sunlight when he gave her the necklace. They even had funny moments like Sokka's antics or even Momo the lemur amusing the others with what he normally did.

But there were also bad memories to go with that. Besides the extinction of the Air Nomads, there was also when Katara and Sokka got sick and when they went through the Great Divide, the latter they admitted wasn't their most exciting adventure.

"And remember the time I hid the map from you and Sokka?" Aang later asked, feeling that memory as if it had happened yesterday. "I still feel bad about it, and I'm sorry I caused all that trouble."

"And I keep telling you that we forgave you," Katara retorted. But her gaze softened a bit as she added, "But if Sokka and I remembered how you felt being without family, then you wouldn't have done that. And I'm sorry we almost left you; if we did, I would've blamed myself and Sokka forever."

With that, Aang hugged her closer to him. "It's okay, Katara. Mistakes are what make us human: we learn from them. I wish I remembered that the day I burned you," he said in shame, and this memory was even worse than the last one where he hid the map. "I know Firebending's not that bad, but I still feel awful about it."

Katara looked down at her hands, looking as if they were still burnt. But she glanced back up at him and said, "It's all in the past, Aang. Besides, you had to learn Firebending sooner or later, right?"

Now that this was behind them, the Avatar and his wife continued talking about the adventures they had. They had talked about how they reached the North Pole and learned Waterbending from Master Pakku, helped the Northern Water Tribe defeat the Fire Nation, and even they (Aang and Katara) sharing their first kiss together in the Cave Of Two Lovers. Now they were talking about their trip throughout the Earth Kingdom to find an Earthbending teacher (they found one in the stubborn yet powerful Toph Beifong) and learning about the eclipse, memories like learning Earthbending and battling the Fire Nation drill coming to mind.

But the bad stuff weren't absent. They remembered with guilt the fight Katara and Toph had with Aang joining in the last minute, and they recalled visiting Wan Shi Tong's library only to find Appa stolen by Sandbenders.

"It was hard to reach Ba Sing Se without Appa," Aang said with a hint of sadness. "I had been kinda moody without him around."

"It wasn't your fault," Katara told him. "You remember when we helped that family through the Serpent's Pass? And when I helped deliver that woman's baby? Seeing them and their baby gave you your hope back...and that's how they named her Hope."

Aang smiled a bit. "Yeah...and you too gave me hope that we could find Appa at Ba Sing Se. Plus, I hope we find a lot of hope with our growing family."

Katara nodded before she looked away. Aang was surprised to see a tear leaking down her face. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Ba Sing Se was where we almost lost you...where _I _almost lost you," Katara rasped, her voice sounding like it was breaking. "I really thought you were dead."

"But it's thanks to you that I came back," Aang told her, gently turning her face to see him. "If it weren't for you, the Avatar cycle would've been truly broken. I think the spirits should really honor you for all you've done."

Now Katara looked surprised as she asked, "You really think so?"

With a small smile, Aang said, "I don't _think _so. I _know _so, my Forever Girl." He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before saying, "And how about when we went through the Fire Nation to prepare for the eclipse? Remember when I attended that Fire Nation school?"

"How can I _not _remember that? Sokka and I had to attend that parent-teacher conference as Wang Fire and Sapphire Fire." Katara then smoothed a hand over her swollen belly as she added, "I even had to pretend to be your pregnant mom. And look at me now. I'm _huge _with your baby."

"You mean _our _baby," Aang joked, resting his hand on her stomach too. "And you do look beautiful when you're this big."

Katara gently smacked his hand away. "You better hope I don't squash you tonight," she snickered playfully. "But how about that dance party you came up with...and the dance you and I did? That really was something."

Aang grinned. "Yep. When our baby's born, we'll have to try that dance again sometime." He was starting to feel warmer next to her, though the stinging icy wind was still hard on his face. "Anyway, what about when you saved that village at the Painted Lady? And when you and Toph got into that scam where you Bended sweat for the first time? Toph kept telling me on how you were a 'stinky sweaty genius.'"

"Oh, she said that, did she?" Katara asked, mock anger in her tone. "When we get back, I'll give her a piece of my mind."

"But...I remember one bad part," Aang interjected, his voice a little somber. "When you learned Bloodbending."

Right when that came out of his mouth, Katara's playful look dropped, and she looked somber too. When they were in the Fire Nation, an old woman named Hama forced her to learn Bloodbending through dark and twisted ways to get needless revenge at the Fire Nation. And when she had been searching for her mother's killer, Katara had used the same technique on who she thought was the man himself. That was why she had been wanting to get Bloodbending banned from Republic City.

Finally, Katara spoke, "Yes, I remember, and I really don't want to talk about it now. I know there are both happier and sadder moments, but the bad ones can be colder than this wind. Can we move on to some happier memories?"

Aang nodded. "Sure. I remember the nightmares I had before the eclipse, the invasion, and when Zuko joined us."

"Yeah. I was a bit of a jerk towards him when we let him join us," Katara admitted with a guilty tone.

"We all were when we saw him," Aang insisted. "Toph was the only one who knew he changed; she knew he was telling the truth."

Katara shook her head. "I know. But I was the one who held the longest grudge against him, after he betrayed me in Ba Sing Se. And look at us now: friends with him, and he's the Fire Lord."

Aang shuffled closer until his wife's stomach brushed against his legs. "And it took Zuko going on that trip with you that won you over."

"I know. I didn't think he would change, and I guess him going with me was also showing that he can be a good friend." Then a smile tugged at her lips as she said, "Anyways, you remember that play we went to?"

Aang snorted and replied, "How could I _not_? I was played by a woman!"

"Nothing wrong with that," Katara teased with a wink. "At least you weren't played by a crybaby preaching about hope all the time."

"Yeah, that's not you at all," Aang said in a slight sarcastic tone.

Katara gave him a playful smack on the shoulder, and he responded by chuckling.

Then they finished the War memories by talking about what went on during Sozin's Comet. Aang had heard about what went on during the duel between Zuko and Azula, for Katara had been there with Zuko. They could have talked on more about the foundations for Republic City had the sun not started to set. Unlike the rest of the world, spring and summer were short in the North and South Poles.

"Well..." Katara got up awkwardly to her feet with a grunt, holding onto Aang as she did so. "That was fun. Recalling all those memories."

Aang helped her up the rest of the way. "Yeah...especially sharing them with you. When our kid's born, should we tell him about all we did?"

Katara looked around at him. "I'm still hoping we have a girl, but if it's a boy, that's fine too. But maybe we can," she agreed. "As long as he or she doesn't do what we did."

"I hope so too," Aang said. He bent down before her, his ear against her stomach as he told the baby inside her, "You hear all that, Bumi? Don't do what your mommy and daddy did over the years."

"Bumi?" Katara asked with a chuckle, peering down at him over her belly. "After your friend Bumi, right?"

Aang stood up. "Yeah. And if we have a daughter, we can name her after your mother."

Katara nodded, her blue eyes shiny with a mix of joy and sorrow. "I'd like that very much. And Mom would too." She turned around and said, "I'm gonna head back to Dad's place to get warmed up. You wanna join me?"

"I'll catch up," Aang told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "And be careful. I love you, Katara."

"I love you too, Aang." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a smile in return before setting off.

Just as Katara had gone away, Aang looked back over his shoulder towards the sea. He wasn't sure if he could see his iceberg prison anymore, but he was sure it was out there somewhere. Perhaps if his successor as Avatar came to the Southern Water Tribe, he or she could find the iceberg and recall distant memories of it.

As for Aang himself, he had already accomplished much over the past ten years. Mastering all four elements in less than a year and helping found Republic City had been a lot of work, and he hoped that no matter what happened, his legacy on earth would go on forever.

_**The End**_

**...**

**Warrior Cat Cody: Well...this FanFic is over, and I hope I did well with it. If there's anything wrong with this story, let me know, and I'll fix it. I appreciate constructive criticism, but please be polite about it.**

**Well, everyone, you all know what day it is...though I've said this twice now. Today marks the day Avatar: The Last Airbender came out ten years ago. It's a very awesome show with a great plot, likable characters (some unlikable like Ozai), and amazing character development. Its sequel Legend Of Korra is the same and is probably better, but ATLA will always have a special place in my memories. May it be forever known as one of the best shows to have been ever created.**

**And yes, I've finally accepted that Bumi's older than Kya. Even if I don't entirely think so, I've accepted that.**

**See ya next time! And Happy 10th Anniversary, Avatar! May the spirit of this show live on in all its fans!**


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